Skift Take
Crisis showed once again how it can breed creativity and excellence. Here are the people, the properties, and the trends that have stood out as bright beacons in a very bad year.
I don’t need to rehash the implications of the past year for travel. This has been endlessly documented. But I saw a lot of reasons to be incredibly optimistic about the future. Every year, I select the best things I see on the road and also outline the friction points and things that need to be improved. I've curtailed my normal nit-pickings this year, focusing instead on the bright rays of creativity under duress. Many brands, properties, and teams used the pandemic as a forcing factor to get better, to try out new things, and to iterate. So, here’s a rundown of the great things I witnessed. Onwards!
BEST DOMESTIC AIRLINE
I moved my longstanding, million-mile allegiance to American Airlines over to Delta. The reason? The brand stood above the pack in terms of its approach to Covid. Planes on every flight were spotless, cleaning protocols were well communicated and their middle seat open social spacing strategy put the consumer first. It is no wonder their net promoter score surged to levels never seen for a U.S. domestic airline. As they roll out new lounges, new partnerships, and new tech, it is a brand with clear, strong leadership that has also read the sea change of culture: consumers are much more in charge now, and Delta knows that they need us, the traveling public. Other carriers will learn this one way or the other.
BEST INTERNATIONAL AIRLINE
I flew on Emirates both pre and post-pandemic this year. But since this column will focus on the latter, the carrier stood out to me as being an outward manifestation of just how well Dubai handled the crisis. Emirates was operationally sound, did a great job with cleaning and safety, and managed to still pull off high touch service despite constraints. The end to end experience on the ground, in the lounges, and onboard reflected what I imagine to be a ton of logistical work and having to rewrite procedures. As Dubai stands to be an important logistical hub for the distribution of the vaccine, it is comforting to see excellence in a very important part of the world.
BEST LUXURY CHAIN
The Four Seasons, with their health and wellness program, Lead with Care, has been the standout luxury hotel chain. Throughout my stays at properties in Surfside, Miami, Mexico City, Denver, Las Vegas, Austin, and others, the brand was remarkably consistent, which is not an easy thing to do. Even better, everything felt natural: there was a level of finesse in messaging and approach that was exactly the right
